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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 16:14:41 GMT
I use a belt sander, and then a dense cardboard wheel loaded with diamond powder I bought from a knife supply company If I did not have power tools, I would still probably have about one third of my blades sharpened
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 16:17:40 GMT
Hm, alright, thanks for the info swordmonger! Its good to know that power tools can used as long as they are used right.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 16:18:13 GMT
Look at the bottom of the Sticky list, there is one for sharpening Tons of great info from our Forum members
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Post by chrisperoni on Sept 21, 2010 17:24:05 GMT
here's a recent thread on when sharpening with power tools can damage the temper on a blade- seems it can be very damaging and even before colour shows the blade edge can already be ruined by power tools/heat: /index.cgi?action=display&board=repair&thread=18368&page=1
Specifically, here's a quote from Dan Davis (and when it comes to metal you listen to Dan- always): "By the time the bulk of the material shows ANY COLOR AT ALL the area directly under the grinder is likely ruined. The color you are seeing is largely irrelevant."
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Sept 21, 2010 17:46:22 GMT
well I know Dan is very knowledgable and in most cases he is exactly crrect in this. however, it really depends on how the sword is heat treated and specifically how it was tempered. in my talks with Gus he has told me that with his swords it woould take a significant amount of coloring to actually damage the heat treat. the trick is to know how your sword was heat treated which we don't know in most cases so it is best to err on the side of caution, making Dan's advice good advice. if you do manage to put some color onto youor blade don't just throw the sword away as ruined. back off, cool it quickly and then continue to work with it carefully.
I'm one of those guys that don't like accusharps. if you want to sharpen your own you may check out my tutorials in my signature.
I agree you have picked good swords to start with, you could have done sooooo much worse, but do yourself a favor: Don't buy at Bristol. I've been there and almost every merchant there jacks their prices thrugh the roof for the even if they normally sell for less at other times. Felix Needleworthy is a great example of this. his prices are outrageous there at the fair but if you show him your SCA card or he knows you he will quietly give you his normal prices.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 17:58:32 GMT
Yeah, after reading the other thread there is no way I'm letting an accusharp near my swords. Yeah, you're totally right about the merchants jacking up the prices at Bristol Tom. I got my GSOW at Bristol for around $380. I thought this was a good price at the time, as I saw other swords for around $600-$900. Imagine my surprise upon returning home and doing some research to find that the GSOW was going for around $160 on Kult of athena! Yeah, never buying swords at Bristol again, thats for sure! At least I was able to get good prices for my Tinker Pearce bastard ($140 at Kult of Athena) and Kriegschwert ($350 at Swords of Might).
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Sept 21, 2010 19:42:05 GMT
ouch man! sorry you had to find out the hard way on that first one but at least you found out before you bought a lot of swords there. yeah Renfairs are terrible places to buy swords, but at least they are starting to carry decent stuff. by the way, anime conventions are even worse a buddy of mine's wife bought him a sword at an anime convention that she thought was going to be the sword to admire amongst us cutting guys. she payed something like $650 for a Shinwa ninjato with some sort of anodized coating on the blade to give it a layered look with threads of red in black. just a horrible bit of sword not worth the $120-ish it can be had for on the web.
I made her promise to talk to me before she ever bought him a sword again, and to never, ever buy a sword at an anime, SF, or comic convention or ren fair ever again, and to not even think about asking my advice abut a sword while at one of those places. fairs can be fun, but don't buy there. look, handle, if they will let you. never buy
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 20:41:27 GMT
Holy crap! Yeah I feel bad for you friends wife, that really sucks! That's sound advice about the conventions as well. It seems like most things are overpriced at conventions. Also, I know you probably heard this a million times before, but great job on the Tinker bastard sword review. Your review is a big part of the reason I decided to get one. Also, if you hadn't brought it to light, I probably wouldn't have noticed how the throat of the scabbard dulls the blade (I am going to have it widened today hopefully).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 21:38:34 GMT
Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback! Yeah, I think the next sword I'm going to get is the BorderWatch by Angus Trim. www.christianfletcher.com/Christian_Fletcher/Borderwatch.html I can't really find any reviews or anything on it, do you guys know if its pretty good? I would hope so considering the price, haha. I'm going to have to save up forever for that one. .....Its going to take me a long time to save up enough money for it, so someone else might get to it first. I just LOVE the way that sword looks. If only I could get the handle and scabbard in dark blue... *drools* ...regarding the borderwatch... Didn't Luna get a borderwatch not too long ago? *research* Yep! A yummy red beaut of a sword. /index.cgi?action=display&board=swordreviews&thread=2131&page=95#292053 Hi and welcome to the forum EP! As ViolentSerenade already said, I own a Borderwatch sword by Christian Fletcher, and mine is an extraordinary weapon. /index.cgi?action=display&board=swordreviews&thread=2131&page=95#292053 I've been holding out on a writing a full review because I wanted to be able to do a side-by-side comparison to my other favorite sword, the Venetian Bastard by Christain Fletcher and Angus Trim, but my Venetian is still in Texas getting a new scabbard, belt and suspension from Valiant Armoury and I haven't been able to compare them in person yet. www.christianfletcher.com/Christian_Fletcher/Venetian_Bastard_Sword.htmlIt suffices to say that the Borderwatch is a very very impressive sword, and outshines just about everything I own (with the exception of my Venetian, I'd need to have them both in hand again to make a final call there.) However, there are several important differences between my sword and the current incarnation of the Borderwatch, and some points to consider before getting one.
- My sword uses the blade from an Albion Crecy warsword, ( www.albion-europe.com/swords/swords-by-productline/nextgeneration/handandahalf/model.aspx?model=100 ) and a very different pommel to preserve the mass distribution, so I can't speak to the handling characteristics of the standard Borderwatch, which uses an Angus Trim blade (a 1420, I believe?) and an oversized pommel. Mine's one of the best-handling hand-and-a-half swords I've ever touched and has a rigid blade with a lot of authority in the cut considering its fairly neutral balance and I love it, but I'm sure it handles somwhat differently than the ATrim version. I wouldn't know how they compare directly, but I know that forum member "Shootermike" Harris has handled the stock (non-borderwatch) versions of both of these blades and might be able to illuminate some differences. /index.cgi?action=viewprofile&user=shootermike
- I can say that the fit, finish and execution of the fittings is absolutely top-notch on my Borderwatch, and if anything Christian has improved in this department since he crafted mine (it was commissioned several years ago and I bought it from its previous owner). You can be sure that you'd be getting an incredible hilt. I certainly think that Christian's Borderwatch grips have improved, as I love the added risers and tapering on the current grip compared to my Borderwatch, and my aformentioned Venetian has a brand new Fletcher grip that is just lovely.
I know blue isn't one of the standard color options for the Borderwatch on the website, but I'm sure Christian would be happy to accomodate a custom color, as he's made blue Borderwatches before and he made a scabbard for an Albion Chevalier in blue not five days ago: tinyurl.com/25kl7hm
- But most importantly, I think you need to be really sure about what you're looking for in a sword before you make a large financial commitment on one piece. I owned and traded dozens of swords before I felt comfortable nabbing something as high-end as the Borderwatch, because by that point I knew EXACTLY what kind of sword tickles my fancy and I felt justified in spending a lot to procure one of my dream swords. And even then I certainly didn't pay as much as the cost of commissioning one new.
I would just hate for you to drop a huge amount on a sword only to find out that it doesn't speak to you as much as you thought it would when it's in your hands, as a lot of us can attest can happen when you buy a sword sight-unseen. Usually in that case you can just sell it in the classifieds and try out something different next time, but with a high-end semi-custom sword like the Borderwatch it's harder to sell and recoup funds if it's not your cup of tea. By all means, when you have money for a such a sword and you know it's the sword for you, get one! It's a very satisfying feeling. But it takes some time to learn what swords are 'the swords for you,' and you want to be sure not to put the cart before the horse in those circumstances. I think you've chosen some EXCELLENT swords to begin your collection with; I wish mine had started the same way. Welcome to this strange and lovely world! I hope you enjoy it here. ;D --Luna
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2010 23:46:32 GMT
Emperorpants: Welcome to the forum. If you are serious about learning about Medieval European swords here is a reading list: "Records of the Medieval Sword" by Ewart Oakeshott, "The Archaeology of Weapons" by Ewart Oakeshott, and "Swords of the Viking Age" by Ian Peirce. Also Oakeshott's "The Sword in the Age of Chivalry" is an excellent reference although one of his earlier works and some of the info has since been revised in later publications. There are many more books on historical swords but if you read the above you'll have a strong background on the subject. The swords you have purchased and ordered are good ones, congratulations, you're off to a good start. Listen to Tom K. on sharpening issues, he knows what he's talking about when it comes to edges and bevels and how to correctly get the proper edge on your sword. As for me, I use the hated Accusharp (shudder, LOL) and get a nice sharp edge on my swords. I've never cared about bevels as long as the edge will cut. I have used an edged weapon in combat and if it's sharp enough to cut my finger it's sharp enough to do the job. I don't care about clean or "silent" cuts or ragged edges on targets, if it'll cut through flesh, it's good enough. But that's just me. The best thing to do is find out what works best for you and if you're having problems, come here and ask questions. There's a lot of knowledgeable, friendly folks here who will be happy to help you. The only thing we can't do is cure you of the addiction to swords. Once bitten, abandon all hope LOL.
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Post by Dave(utilityslave) on Sept 22, 2010 0:07:59 GMT
What a great thread........some awesome advice and explanations..........what a group!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2010 20:55:28 GMT
Thank you very much everyone! A special thanks to you Lunaman! I contacted shootermike and he was able to answer all of my questions!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2010 21:22:51 GMT
Happy to help, emporerpants. Glad you got the answers you were looking for!
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Post by shadowhowler on Sept 22, 2010 21:43:46 GMT
You think they use a 1420 on the BorderWatch Luna? I didn't know that... I have a 1420... guess I have half a boarderwatch. ;D
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